DENVER – With Jay Payton’s hamstring expected to keep him out for at least a month, there is no reason to believe this isn’t Alex Escobar’s time. The Mets need a center fielder and Escobar is the best one they have available.

Manager Bobby Valentine and GM Steve Phillips won’t say Escobar is going to stay. The plan, according to Phillips, is to ship Escobar back to Norfolk this weekend when Darryl Hamilton is eligible to come off the disabled list. However, Phillips is quick to point out this could change.

So if the 22-year-old Escobar doesn’t look overmatched, he figures to stay and bring some excitement to the ballclub.

His debut Tuesday was pretty solid, despite the Mets’ 12-4 loss to the Rockies. He didn’t hit tremendously, beating out a nubber in the sixth for his first career hit and RBI. He was 1-for-4, but showed many of the tools that earned him the nickname Alex the Great.

“I wouldn’t say I was nervous,” Escobar said of his at-bats. “I was just trying to do too much. I was kind of anxious at the beginning, but I wasn’t nervous. I feel pretty good at the plate.”

He made a couple of tremendous catches against the wall, a nice throw to the plate and displayed his speed.

“He looked pretty relaxed,” Valentine said.

Escobar didn’t look great at the plate. In his first major-league at-bat, he struck out on four pitches against Pedro Astacio. In his second plate appearance, he nearly beat out a grounder to short.

Fellow Venezuelan Edgardo Alfonzo, who is Escobar’s mentor on the team, advised Escobar to “just start early.” This means to not wait too long before getting his body moving as Astacio’s pitches came in.

In his third at-bat, in the sixth, Escobar came up with men on second and third and nubbed one toward third baseman Greg Norton. Escobar just beat the throw.

Afterward, Alfonzo and Rey Ordonez put a ball with the cover torn off it in Escobar’s locker, teasing him about how his first base hit wasn’t smashed.

“Whatever it takes,” said Escobar, who laughed about the joke.

This was Escobar’s view in the outfield, as well. In the fourth, he banged into the fence after sprinting down a Todd Walker drive. In the eighth, he clinged on to a shot from Norton that was destined for the top of the wall. Escobar wore ice on his left shoulder after the game.

“It’s fine, it’s just bruised,” Escobar said. “If it is going to be good for the team, you do it,” Escobar said.

Escobar wasn’t overwhelmed by his circumstances. He did think, “Wow, I’m here.” But he thought about it at the right times – before and after the game, not during. He did, though, try to get used to the new surroundings of Coors.

“You have to get the feeling of the stadium,” Escobar said. “The sound of the ball, the location of the pitches. You have to try to put things together all at once. It is kind of hard sometimes.”

In the first, the Rockies hit three straight doubles. The second one off Norton’s bat was of the ground-rule variety, bouncing on the left-center-field warning track and over the wall.

“What happened on that play was I was shifted to right field instead of playing on the other side,” Escobar said. “I think I could’ve gotten that ball if I was playing on the other side.”

So Escobar will have the opportunity to stick if he shows he can play. This is his time. There is no reason to believe he can’t do well. The Mets should keep him up. He brings another dimension that has been missing from this team. Excitement. Plus, they need a center fielder right now and he’s the best they’ve got.